Image search method for searching and retrieving desired image from memory device

ABSTRACT

One unit of image/text information (a card) is formed from image information, which is for displaying respective ones of N--number of images, and text information, and a large number of cards are stored in a memory device to construct a data base. When search conditions such as a desired keyword or numerical range have been entered, at least one card which satisfies the search conditions is searched and retrieved from the data base by referring to the text information of each card. First images from each of the cards retrieved are reduced in size and then combined, the reduced and combined images obtained are displayed on a display device, and a desired item of image/text information is selected from the reduced and combined images.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an image search method for searching andretrieving a desired image from a memory device which stores a number ofimages and displaying the retrieved image on a display device.

It has become very popular in recent years to have computers executeimage management of such images as photographs and drawings. In an imagemanagement system of this kind, still images such as photographs anddrawings are stored in large quantity on a magnetic disk, optical diskor photomagnetic disk, a desired image is retrieved as needed and theretrieved image is displayed on a display device.

Methods available for the search and retrieval of a desired imageinclude a method through which still images are searched one at a timeand a method through which the search is performed by displaying a listof titles assigned to respective ones of the still images. With themethod of searching for frames one by one, however, problems areencountered in that this method leads to operator eye fatigue and has alow search speed. With the method of search and retrieval from a titlelist, the images cannot be searched while being observed. Consequently,the accuracy of search is poor and the search is difficult to perform.These shortcomings shall be referred to as a first problem hereinbelow.

Magnetic disks, optical disks, photomagnetic disks and the like arelarge-capacity storage devices. However, since approximately 130kilobytes are required in order to store a single image, these disks areincapable of storing a large quantity of images. This shall be referredto as a second problem.

In order to solve the first problem, an image search method has beenproposed in which images 3₁, 3₂, . . . reduced in size and then combinedare stored on a video disk 1 in advance, as shown in FIG. 1. Each of theimages 3₁, 3₂, . . . is obtained by combining m--number (16, forexample) of original images 2₁, 2₂, 2₃, . . . 2_(s) in horizontal andvertical directions upon reducing them in size to 1/4 in each of thesedirections. At the time of search, the reduced and combined images 3₁,3₂, are displayed successively on the display device, a desired image isfound and designated among the reduced and combined images, and thedesignated original image is displayed on the display device. Inaccordance with this method of search, an advantage over theconventional methods is that a high-speed search can be performed whilethe images are being displayed.

However, searching speed is only about 16 times as fast as asingle-frame search. This means that in a case where a large number ofimages, e.g., 1600, have been stored, the reduced and combined imagesmust be displayed 100 times in a worst-case situation. The imagesreduced to 1/16 must be viewed one at a time, and if the desired imageis not found, then the image search must be performed in a similarmanner upon displaying the next group of reduced combined images. As aresult, the problem of operator eye fatigue is still encountered. Thus,there are limitations upon the method of FIG. 1 in a case where a largenumber of images are stored on a disk.

In order to solve the second problem, an image filing apparatus has beenproposed in which the original images and the images that have beenreduced and combined are both stored on a disk upon being subjected tocompression coding, after which images are restored at the time ofdisplay. However, the same compression coding method is used for theoriginal images and for the reduced and combined images. Consequently,when image compression is performed by high-compression coding, thememory capacity required in order to store the images can be decreasedbut the reduced and combined images cannot be restored and displayed athigh speed at the time of image retrieval. As a result, search time isprolonged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an imagesearch method in which a desired image can be searched and retrieved athigh speed and accuracy, while the images are being observed, even in acase where the images have been stored in a memory device such as anoptical disk in a large quantity.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image searchmethod in which images can be stored in large quantity and searchimages, which are images that have been reduced and combined, can bedisplayed at high speed.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an image searchmethod which exhibits excellent operability.

According to the present invention, the foregoing objects are attainedby providing an image search method which comprises a step of formingone unit of image/text information from image information that is fordisplaying N--number of images (where N is any integer of apredetermined value or less) and text information, and forming a database by storing a number of items of the image/text information in amemory device, a step of retrieving one or more items of image/textinformation, which satisfy search conditions, from the data base byreferring to text information of all of the image/text information whenthe search conditions have been inputted, a step of reducing andcombining each of the images in the image/text information retrieved anddisplaying the reduced and combined images that have been obtained on adisplay device, and a step of selecting a desired item of image/textinformation from the reduced and combined images and displaying theselected item of information on the display device.

In accordance with the search method of the present invention, it can bearranged so that only images which satisfy search conditions are adoptedas images that are the subject of a search. Moreover, since desiredimages need only be searched among reduced and combined images obtainedby reducing and combining only images that are the subject of a search,the desired images can be searched at high speed and accuracy while theyare observed by the operator.

Further, according to the image search method of the invention,original-image information and reduced-image information obtained byreducing the original images are provided as a set and serve as theimage information. With such an arrangement, the reduced and combinedimages can be generated and displayed at high speed using thereduced-image information, and desired images can be retrieved at highspeed.

Further, according to the image search method of the invention, the database is formed by compressing the reduced-image information using acompression method capable of high-speed restoration, storing thecompressed information in the memory device, compressing theoriginal-image information by a prescribed compression method from amonga plurality of compression methods, and storing the compressedinformation in the memory device. With such an arrangement, images canbe stored in large quantity and the reduced-image information can berestored at high speed. Accordingly, the reduced and combined images canbe generated and displayed at high speed and the desired images can beretrieved at high speed.

Further, according to the image search method of the invention, the sizeof a page designating index can be changed in dependence upon the numberof pages, and the reduced images of all images of one item of image/textinformation can be combined and displayed en masse and displayed inenlarged form, thereby making it possible to improve operability.

Further, according to the image search method of the invention, graphicicons for designating a variety of functions are displayed on thedisplay device, characters which designate keys on a keyboard aredisplayed in combination with the graphic icons, and either a graphicicon is designated by a cursor or a predetermined control key and a keycorresponding to a character among the characters displayed togetherwith the icons are pressed simultaneously, whereby a function that hasbeen allocated to the icon is implemented. This makes it possible toreadily enter a function from a keyboard as well to improve operability.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate thesame or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is diagram for describing an image search method according to theprior art;

FIG. 2 is a diagram for describing an overview of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an image database system according tothe present invention;

FIG. 4 is diagram for describing what is stored on a hard disk;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for describing items of text information;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a display device;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an arrangement for compressing andthen storing images inputted from an image input unit;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing each of the functions of an image database;

FIG. 9 is a diagram for describing a top-menu screen;

FIG. 10 is a diagram for describing icons, in which FIG. 10A is adiagram for describing graphic icons and FIG. 10B a diagram fordescribing character icons;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating card creation and registrationprocessing;

FIG. 12 is a card creating screen referred to when inputting textinformation;

FIG. 13 is a card creating screen referred to when editing an image;

FIG. 14 is a card creating screen referred to in a case where an imageis inputted by using a scanner;

FIG. 15 is a card creating screen referred to in a case where an imageis inputted by using a scanner;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating card display and search processing;

FIG. 17 is a card display and search screen for displaying a card list;

FIG. 18 is a card display and search screen for displaying a card listafter the list has been narrowed down;

FIG. 19 is a card display and search screen for displaying a retrievedcard;

FIG. 20 is a card display and search screen displayed at the time of animage search; and

FIGS. 21A-21F is a diagram for giving an overview of various displayscreens displayed at the time of a card search.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT (a) General Description

FIG. 2 is a diagram for describing an overview of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, numeral 11 denotes a memory device such as amagnetic disk, an optical disk or a photomagnetic disk. IM₁ -IM_(N)represent items of image information, and TX represents textinformation. The items of image information IM₁ -IM_(N) respectivelyinclude items of original-image information IM₀₁, IM₀₂, IM₀₃, . . .IM_(0N) and items of reduced-image information IM₁₁, IM₁₂, IM₁₃, . . .IM_(1N) obtained by reducing the size of the original images. Each itemof original-image information and its corresponding items ofreducing-image information form a set. One unit of image/textinformation (hereinafter referred to as a "card") C₁ is formed fromN--number of the items of image information IM₁ -IM_(N) (where N is anyinteger of 16 or less, by way of example) and the text information TX.An image data base is constructed from a number of cards C₁ -C_(M). Byway of example, in case of a data base for personnel management, onecard is created for each employee. The card is constituted by N--numberof items of photographic image information IM, such as frontal and sidephotographs of the employee's face and a full-body photograph of theemployee, and the text information TX, such as employee number, name,sex, birthplace, address, post and qualifications. The image data baseis composed of cards of all employees. In case of a data base fortourist information, a card is created for every tourist location, andeach card is composed of N--number of photographic images and textregarding sightseeing locations. Other examples of image data bases arethose for managing housing information, used-car information andcommodity information, etc.

Numeral 12 denotes a processing unit constituted by a computer forcontrolling the overall system, 13 a controller such as a mouse orkeyboard, and 14 a display device.

In a case where a desired image is retrieved from a data base, "DISPLAY"is selected on an initial screen (a top-menu screen) by the controller13, whereupon the processor 12 causes a display/search screen IMSD to bedisplayed on the display device 14.

The left side of the display/search screen IMSD is a list display area,in which a list of all cards (namely a list of character strings each ofwhich is composed of a prescribed number of the characters at thebeginning of text information) is displayed. Ordinarily, the list of allcards cannot be displayed to fit on one screen but can be viewed byperforming a scrolling operation or the like. The right side of thedisplay/search screen IMSD is a search area for displaying search itemsand search conditions (keywords and numerical ranges).

When search conditions are set from the controller 13 for everyprescribed item constituting the text information, these searchconditions are displayed in the corresponding item space. After thesearch conditions have been inputted for each item, the controller 13 isused to set the search in accordance with the logical product (AND) orlogical sum (OR) of the search conditions. If "EXECUTE SEARCH" isinputted after this setting is made, the processor 12 collates the textinformation of each card and the search conditions, finds the cardswhich satisfy the search conditions and saves the found cards in aninternal memory. Further, the processor 12 causes a list solely of thecards which satisfy the search conditions to be displayed in the listdisplay area.

By virtue of the foregoing operation, the cards which are the subject ofa search can be narrowed down. Thereafter, search conditions can beinputted if necessary to narrow down further the cards which are thesubject of a search.

"RETRIEVE IMAGE" is inputted using the controller 13 when thenarrowing-down operation ends. As a result, the processor 12 uses thereduced-image information IM₁₁ to generate a reduced image of the firstpage of each card which is the subject of a search saved by thenarrowing-down operation, and causes the display device 14 to display areduced-and-combined image screen IMCP, which is obtained by combiningM--number (where M=8, by way of example) of images P₁ -P₈ that have beenreduced in size. The operator glances at the reduced-and-combined imagescreen IMCP and looks for the desired image. If the desired image is notfound, the screen is scrolled until the desired image comes into view.If the desired image comes into view, then this image is designated bythe controller 13.

When a card has been selected by designating the desired image, theprocessor 12 causes the display device 14 to display a card displayscreen IMCD containing the image of the first page of the card and thetext information of the first page. The left side of the card displayscreen IMCD is an image display area, and the right side is a textdisplay area. The image displayed in the image display area can beturned over to display the next image by being designated using thecontroller. Moreover, the image can be enlarged and all of the imagescontained on the card can be reduced and combined and displayed en masse(i.e., a multiple-image display can be presented). Similarly, the textinformation displayed in the text display area can be turned over todisplay the next item of text by being designated using the controller.

(b) Configuration of Image Data-Base System

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the image data-base system accordingto this invention. The memory device 11, which stores a plurality ofcards (image/text information), may be a hard disk, for example. Aplurality of such memory devices are capable of being connected and thenumber thereof is capable of being increased. The processor 12constituted by the computer for controlling the overall system isconstituted by a CPU 12a, a ROM 12b for storing various control programsand the like, and a RAM 12c.

The controller 13 is equipped with a mouse 13a and a keyboard 13b. Thedisplay device 14 displays screens which conform to a variety offunctions. Numeral 15 denotes an image input unit, and numeral 16designates a printer for printing images and items of text.

Hard Disk

The hard disk 11 has an image work area 11a, a menu-screen storage area11b, and a card storage area 11c. The image work area 11a temporarilystores images inputted at the time of card creation, the menu-screenstorage area 11b stores a number of menu screens such as the initialscreen, the display/search screen and a card creation screen in advance,and the card storage area 11c stores a number of cards C₁, C₂, C₃, . . ..

One card is composed of the image information IM and the textinformation TX. The image information IM has a maximum of 16 image filesIM₁ -IM_(N) (N≦16). The image files IM₁ -IM_(N) respectively have (1)headers HD₁ -HD_(N), (2) items of original image information IM₀₁-IM_(0N) and (3) items of reduced-image information IM₁₁ -IM_(1N), whichare obtained by reducing the original images, in which (1), (2) and (3)constitute a set. Each header describes the attributes (e.g., the numberof colors) of the image, the size of the image (original image orreduced image), the method of image compression, and the address of theimage in the file, etc. By referring to the header, the reduced imageand the original image can each be read out and restored independently.

In the case of a data base for personnel management, one card C_(i)(i=1, 2, 3, . . . ) is created for each employee. Each card isconstituted by image information IM, such as frontal and sidephotographs of the employee's face and a full-body photograph of theemployee, and the text information TX, such as employee number, name,etc. The image information IM has image files IM₁, IM₂, IM₃ for thefrontal, side and full-body photographs, for example, and each imagefile has the original image, the reduced image, which possessesdimensions 1/4 of those of the original image in both the vertical andhorizontal directions, and the header. The text information TX possessesinformation conforming to a number of items ITM shown in the leftmostcolumn of FIG. 5. It is required that the information of each item beexpressed by no more than the number of characters shown in the centercolumn and by the type of characters indicated in the rightmost column.

Display Device

As shown in FIG. 6, the display device 14 includes a display unit 14asuch a CRT or liquid-crystal display panel, a menu screen memory 14b forstoring menu screen, an image memory 14c for storing a prescribed image(referred to as a "card image") of a card, a character generator 14d forgenerating character information based upon text information, a textmemory 14e for storing text images composed of a number of characterimages, a cursor position monitoring unit 14f for monitoring theposition of a mouse cursor, a scroll-bar position monitoring unit 14gfor monitoring the up-down and left-right positions of scroll bars, acaret-position monitoring unit 14h for monitoring the position of acaret, a cursor generator 14i for generating a cursor image, ascroll-bar generator 14j for generating up-down and left-rightscroll-bar images, a caret generator 14m for generating a caret image,an index-image generator 14n for generating an index image (describedlater) conforming to the number of pages, and a synthesizing unit 14pfor combining images in appropriate fashion and displaying them on thedisplay unit 14a. Though not shown, the display device 14 has amultiwindow function as well.

The menu screen memory 14b and the image memory 14c respectively store amenu screen and a card image entered from the processor 12 and inputtheir stored contents to the synthesizing unit 14p successively inaccordance with raster scanning. The character generator 14d generatescharacter images based upon text information entered from the processor12, and the text memory 14e stores the character images, namely the textimages, and inputs the stored contents to the synthesizing unit 14psuccessively in accordance with raster scanning. The cursor positionmonitoring unit 14f updates the position of the mouse cursor based uponrotation of a track ball in the mouse 13a, and the cursor generator 14igenerates the cursor image at the cursor position. The scroll-barposition monitoring unit 14g updates the up-down and left-rightscroll-bar positions in dependence upon up-down and left-right scrollingoperations, and the scroll-bar generator 14j generates horizontal andvertical scroll-bar images that extend up to the aforesaid positions.The caret-position monitoring unit 14h updates the caret position independence upon a caret moving operation and generates a caret image atthis position. The index image generator 14n displays N--number ofindices for turning pages in the vicinity of the image area and textarea. The size of the index is larger the smaller the value of N.

Image Input Unit

The image input 15 is an image scanner or video camera, by way ofexample. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an arrangement forcompressing and then storing images inputted from the image input unit15. In actuality, each component of the processor 12 is implemented bysoftware.

An original image inputted from the image input unit 15 is held in animage buffer 11a-1 within the image work area 11a of the hard disk. When"EXECUTE REGISTRATION" is subsequently designated from the controller13, a reduced-image generator 121 of the processor 12 reduces the sizeof the original image to 1/4 in both the horizontal and verticaldirections by thinning-out processing or the like, and the resultingdata is inputted to a run-length compressing device 122. The lattersubjects the reduced image to run-length compression and stores thecompressed data in a compression buffer 11a-2 within the image work area11a. Next, a compression-method selector 123 inputs the original imageto a compressing device (a run-length compressing device 124, an LZWcompressing device 125, a DCT compressing device 126) which conforms toan initially preset compression method (run-length compression, LZWcompression, DCT compression). The compressing device to which theoriginal image has been applied compresses the image in accordance witha prescribed compression method and stores the compressed image in thecompression buffer 11a-2. Finally, the reduced image and the compresseddata obtained by compressing the original image are stored in the cardstorage area of the hard disk upon having a header assigned thereto.

Various Compression Methods

The run-length compression method compresses data by representing animage by a pattern and its continuous numbers. The rate of compressionis low but high-speed restoration is possible. Accordingly, the reducedimages IM₁₁ -IM_(1N) can be compressed by run-length compression and thereduced and combined image screen IMCP (see FIG. 2) can e displayed in ashort period of time.

The LZW compression method compresses data using an LZW(Lempel-Ziv-Welch) code (see T. A. Welch, "A Technique forHigh-Performance Data Compression", Computer, June 1984). If one word ofdata is referred to as a character and data composed of an arbitraryseries of words is referred to as a character string, then the LZWcompression method is one in which a newly input character string isregistered in a dictionary upon being assigned a number in the order ofappearance, and a character string currently being inputted is coded bybeing represented solely by the dictionary number of the longestcoincident character string that has been registered in the dictionary.In accordance with the LZW compression method, the advantages are that ahigh compression rate is obtained and the original image can bereproduced in an accurate manner. However, a drawback is that acomparatively long period of time is required for restoration.

According to the DCT compression method, the original image ispartitioned in a block comprising 8×8 pixels, for example, the picturesignal of each block is converted into DCT coefficients of a spatialfrequency distribution by a two-dimensional discrete cosine transform,the DCT coefficients are quantized by threshold values which conform tovision, and coding is performed by a Huffman table in which thequantized DCT coefficients obtained are statistically determined. Inaccordance with the DCT compression method, an advantage is that codingcan be performed at the highest possible efficiency. However, thedisadvantages are that the restoration speed is low and the originalimage cannot be reproduced in exactly the same way. Which method is usedto compress the original image is initially preset upon taking thespecific character of each method into a consideration.

(c) Functions of Image Data-Base System

Functions

In the image data-base system, the image data base is constructed bycreating a number of cards (items of image/text information) and storingthese cards in a memory device. Desired cards are searched and retrievedfrom the image data base as necessary and the retrieved cards aredisplayed. Furthermore, the contents of cards may be updated or deleted.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing each of the functions of the imagedata base. MN1 denotes a main menu MN1 for managing a retrieval/displaymenu MN2, a creation menu MN3, an updating menu MN4, a deletion menuMN5, an external input/output menu MN6 and a system setting menu MN7.

Cards already registered are retrieved and displayed using theretrieval/display menu MN2, a card composed of image information andtext information is newly added and registered using the creation menuMN3, the image and text items on a card already registered are changedusing the updating menu MN4, and a card already registered is deletedusing the deletion menu MN5. A card already registered can be backed upusing the external input/output menu MN6, and the working environment,devices and data-base items of the image data-base system are set usingthe system setting menu MN7. An environment setting menu MN71 is used toset the management location of a text item and to add and deletemanagement locations of an image file. A device setting menu 72 is usedto set various types of input/output units used in the system, as wellas method of connecting these units. A data-base setting unit 73 is usedto set the attributes and lengths of text items, as well as searchitems.

Selection of Functions

When the image search system is started up, a top-menu screenillustrated in FIG. 9 is displayed on the display device 14. Functionsare selected on the top-menu screen by designating icons ICN₁ -ICN₆which correspond to the various menus using the a mouse cursor CSR, orby simultaneously pressing a control key and keys corresponding to thecharacters assigned to the icons ICN₁ -ICN₆.

A key character can be displayed together with each icon at all times,as shown in FIG. 9. However, an arrangement can be adopted in whichgraphic icons ICN₁ '-ICN₆ ' without key characters are displayed inordinary circumstances, as shown in FIG. 10A. Here the character iconsICN₁ -ICN₆ with the key characters are displayed, as illustrated in FIG.10B, only when the control key on the keyboard is pressed. The key thatis to be operated is designated. In a case where a changeover is madebetween the graphic icons and the character icons, two types of menuscreens, namely one having the graphic icons and one having thecharacter icons, are stored in the menu-screen storage area 11b of thehard disk 11, and either of these two menu screens is selectivelydisplayed depending upon whether the control is pressed or not.

Processing for creating and registering a card and a case in which adesired card is retrieved and displayed will now be described.

(d) Card Creation and Registration Processing

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating processing for creating andregistering cards, and FIGS. 12 through 15 show examples of cardcreation screens. Processing for creating and registering cards will bedescribed with reference to these drawings.

"CREATE" is selected at step 101 by designating the icon ICN₃ using themouse cursor or keys in a state in which the top-menu screen (FIG. 9) isbeing displayed on the display device 14.

As a result, the processor 12 reads the card creation screen out of themenu-screen storage area 11b (see FIG. 4) of the hard disk 11 and inputsthis screen to the display device 14. The display device 14 stores thecard creation screen in the menu screen memory 14b (see FIG. 6) so thata display of the kind shown in FIG. 12 is presented on the display unit14a at step 102. Shown in FIG. 12 are an icon display area 141a, a textarea 141b which displays text items, an image area 141c which displaysimages, and a display control area 141d for turning the image display onand off and for designating multiple display of reduced images. An indexIDX is provided at the top of the text area 141b and image area 141c. Adesired page can be displayed by designating the index IDX using themouse cursor CSR. The number of pages of text and the number of pages ofimages can be identified by the number of indices IDX. Moreover, thesmaller the number of pages, the larger the displayed size of each indexIDX.

In the state shown in FIG. 12, text information is inputted from thekeyboard and stored in the RAM 12c at step 103. More specifically, thefirst item (employee number) in the text area 141b is designated by themouse cursor CSR and the mouse switch is turned on. As a result, a caretCL is moved to the position of the first character of the designateditem to make possible the entry of an employee number. This is followedby entering the employee number from the keyboard. The entered charactercode is stored in the RAM 12c and is inputted to the display device 14so as to be displayed. When the entry of the employee number ends, thecaret is moved to the next line and the next item of text is entered.This operation is repeated in similar fashion to enter all of the itemsof text. In order to turn the page, the index IDX is designated usingthe mouse cursor CSR.

When entry of the text information for forming a card is completed bythe foregoing operation, an icon ICN₃₁ signifying "EDIT IMAGE" isdesignated. In response to designation of this icon, the processor 12reads the image editing screen out of the menu-screen storage area 11band inputs this screen to the display device 14 so that a display of thekind shown in FIG. 13 is presented on the display unit 14a (step 104).Display areas shown in FIG. 13 are an icon display area 142a, areduced-image display area 142b for displaying reduced images ofN--number of original images, namely reduced images of pages that havealready been registered, and an image display area 142c for displayingthe original image.

Next, based upon whether an image is entered using an image scanner, avideo camera or an image file already created, one of the icons ICN₃₂,ICN₃₃, ICN₃₄ is designated by the mouse cursor or keys (steps105a-105c).

If the icon ICN₃₂ is designated because of image input using the imagescanner, the processor 12 causes the display device 14 to display animage-scanner input screen shown in FIG. 14. Areas shown in FIG. 14include an icon display area 143a, a brightness display area 143b, afirst image area 143c for displaying an image read from a scanner andfor designating a zone to be cut from the image, and a second image area143d for displaying the original image. FR represents a zone designatingframe used to designate the zone to be cut from the image.

In the state illustrated, a prescribed index among 16 indices IDX shownin the second image area 143d is designated by the mouse cursor tothereby designate the image page which is to accept the image. Next,when a frontal photograph of the employee's face is inputted by beingread by the image scanner (image input unit) 15, the processor 12 storesthis image in the image work area 11a of the hard disk 11 and inputs theimage to the display device 14 so that the image will be displayed inthe first image area 143c (see FIG. 15). Thereafter, the zonedesignating frame FR is moved by the mouse cursor so as to be positionedat the center of the image from which a cut is to be taken. Next, if thesize of the cutting zone is to be set, the resolution and rate ofenlargement are displayed in an area 143e. If the icon ICN₃₅ isdesignated under these conditions, the processor 12 cuts out the portionof the image (the original image) within the set zone and inputs it tothe display device 14 so that it will be displayed in enlarged form inthe second image area 143d. The image work area 11a holds the cut-outportion of the image (the original image) temporarily.

Thereafter, the image of each page forming a card is inputted in similarfashion and is held in the image work area 11a (step 106).

When the entry of all images has been completed, the icon ICN₃₆ isdesignated to enter "END" and display the image editing screen of FIG.13 on the display device 14. If the icon ICN₃₇ is designated to enter"END" under these conditions, the card creation screen of FIG. 12 isdisplayed. In this case, the text information of the first page isdisplayed in the text area 141b and the first image is displayed in theimage area 141c. Under these conditions, the icon ICN₃₈ is designated toenter "EXECUTE" (step 107).

When the icon ICN₃₈ is designated, the processor 12 reads the originalimage of the first page that has been stored in the image work area 11aof the hard disk 11 (step 108). Next, the processor 12 reduces the sizeof the original image to 1/4 in each of the horizontal and verticaldirections as by thinning-out processing, subjects the reduced image torun-length compression and stores the result in the image work area 11a(step 109).

When compression of the reduced image ends, the image on the first pageis compressed by the initially set compression method (run-lengthcompression, LZW compression or DCT compression) and the compressedimage is stored in the image work area 11a (step 110). Thereafter, thestorage locations of the reduced image and original image in the cardstorage area 11c are decided and a header is created upon taking intoaccount these storage locations (addresses), size and compression method(step 111). An image file is created from the header, the reduced imageand the original image (step 112), and the image file is registered inthe card storage area 11c of the hard disk 11 in correlation with a cardnumber. Thereafter, the processing of steps 108-113 is repeated toregister all image files forming the card in the card storage area 11.Processing for creating one card is then terminated.

(e) Card Display/Search Processing

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the processing for displaying andretrieving cards, and FIGS. 17-21 show examples of screens for carddisplay/search. Card display/search processing will be described withreference to these drawings.

"DISPLAY" is selected at step 201 by designating the icon ICN₁ using themouse cursor or keys in a state in which the top-menu screen (FIG. 9) isbeing displayed on the display device 14.

As a result, the processor 12 reads the card display/search screen outof the menu-display storage area 11b (see FIG. 4) of the hard disk 11,inputs this screen to the display device 14, reads the text informationof each card from the card storage area 11c and inputs this informationto the display device 14, whereby the search display screen isdisplayed, as shown in FIG. 17 (step 202). Areas shown on the searchscreen of FIG. 17 include an icon display area 145a, a list display area145b and a search area 145c.

A list of all cards (namely a list of character strings composed of apredetermined number characters at the beginning of each string in thetext information) is displayed in the list display area 145b.Ordinarily, the list of all cards cannot fit in the display of onescreen. However, the list of all cards can be viewed by performing ascrolling operation up or down. More specifically, when a first scrollkey SRK1 is designated by the mouse cursor and the mouse switch isturned on, the list display can be scrolled one line at a time. When asecond scroll key SRK2 is designated by the mouse cursor and the mouseswitch is turned on, the list display can be scrolled ten lines at atime. In this case, the position of the end of a vertical scroll bar UDBis moved up or down in accordance with an up-down scrolling operation.Further, though only a predetermined number of characters of the textinformation can be displayed in the list display, it is possible tochange the content of the displayed text information by scrollingoperation to the left or right. Specifically, when a third scroll keySRK3 is designated by the mouse cursor and the mouse switch is turnedon, the text information can be scrolled one character at a time. Theposition of the end of a horizontal scroll bar LRB is moved to the leftor right in accordance with a left-right the scrolling operation.

The search area 145c displays search items as well as search conditions(keywords and numerical ranges) set from these items.

Next, the search conditions are entered. For example, if employees whosepost is Tokyo and whose operating budget is 100,000,000 to 250,000,000are to be retrieved, the second page (Page 2) of the search items isopened, the post item is designated using the mouse cursor CSR, thecaret CL is moved to the space of the post item and "Tokyo" is enteredfrom the keyboard. Similarly, ">=100,000,000 & <=250,000,000" is enteredas the operating budget. Next, the logical product (AND) of these searchconditions is inputted using a search-mode switch SMS. In a case wherethe search is performed in accordance with the logical sum (OR) of thesesearch conditions, the logical sum (OR) is set using the search-modeswitch SMS (step 203).

When "EXECUTE SEARCH" is inputted by designating the icon ICN₁₁ afterentry of the search conditions (step 204), the processor 12 collates thetext information of each card and the search conditions, finds the cardswhich satisfy the search conditions, saves the cards in the RAM 12c andcauses a list solely of the found cards to be displayed in the listdisplay area 145b (FIG. 18; step 205). In FIG. 18, "NUMBER OF FINDS:2/12" indicates that two cards which satisfy the search conditions havebeen found among 12 cards.

By virtue of the foregoing operation, cards which are the subject ofsearch can be narrowed down. Thereafter, search conditions can beentered if necessary to narrow down cards which are the subject of asearch even further.

At the conclusion of the narrowing-down operation, a list search and animage search are available in order to select a card. A list search is amethod of selecting a target card from the list display area 145b. Animage search is a method of selecting a target card from among imagesthat have been reduced in size and combined.

A select bar SLB (the shaded portion in FIGS. 17 and 18) is positionedon the target card when the list search is carried out. Morespecifically, the target card is designated by the mouse cursor, afterwhich the mouse switch is turned on to place the select bar SLB on thetarget card. In FIG. 18, the select bar SLB is situated on the firstcard of the two cards displayed. Next, the icon ICN₁₂ is designated toinput "DISPLAY CARD", whereupon the processor 12 causes the image on thefirst page of the card designated by the caret bar CLB as well as thetext items of the first page to be displayed, as illustrated in FIG. 19(step 206).

Areas shown in FIG. 19 are an icon display area 146a, an image area146b, a text area 146c, and a display control area 146d for turning theimage display on and off and for designating multiple display of reducedimages. The number of indices in the image area 146b and text area 146care three and two, respectively. This makes it possible for the operatorto recognize that the card is composed of three images (e.g., frontaland side photographs of the employee's face and a full-body photograph)and two pages of text information. When the index of the desired page isdesignated by the mouse cursor, the processor 12 displays the image ortext information of the designated page. Further, the processor 12displays the image when "ON" in the display control area 146d has beendesignated and erases the image when "OFF" has been designated. If"SPLIT" is designated, the processor 12 combines the N--number ofreduced images (the reduced images of the frontal and side photographsof the employee's face and the reduced image of the full-bodyphotograph) which constitute the card and causes this combined image tobe displayed in the image display area 146b en masse. Further, if themouse switch is turned on while the image presently displayed is beingdesignated by the mouse cursor, the processor 12 uses the original imageinformation to enlarge the displayed image by approximately two times.

In the case of the image search, the icon ICN13 in FIG. 18 is designatedto enter "IMAGE SEARCH" (step 207). In response, the processor 12 readsout the cards which are the subject of a search (and which have beensaved in the RAM 12c by the narrowing-down processing) and causes thedisplay device 14 to display the screen of reduced and combined images,namely a screen in which the reduced images P₁ -P₈ of each of the firstpages are combined (step 208). The reduced images are generated usingthe reduced-image information.

In the case of FIG. 18, the cards which are the subject of the searchhave been narrowed down to two, and therefore only two reduced imagesare displayed as the reduced and combined images, as illustrated in FIG.20.

The operator glances as the reduced and combined images and looks forthe desired image. If the desired image is not present, a scroll keySRK4 is designated by the mouse cursor and scrolling is performed untilthe desired image comes into view. Alternatively, icons ICN₁₄, ICN₁₅ maybe designated by the mouse cursor or keys to enter "PREVIOUS PAGE" OR"NEXT PAGE" so that the display of reduced image can be changed oversuccessively eight images at a time. When the desired image has beendisplayed by such a scrolling operation or a page-turning operation, theimage is designated by the mouse cursor or keys (steps 209, 210).

When a target card has been designated, the processor 12 causes theimage of the first page of the designated card as well as the test itemsof the first page to be displayed, as shown in FIG. 19 (step 211).

FIG. 21 is a diagram giving an overview of the various display screensdisplayed at the time of a card search, in which (a) is the card-listdisplay screen (see FIG. 17), (b) is the image search screen (see FIG.20), (c) is the card display screen (see FIG. 19) which displays a cardcomposed of two images and three pages of text information, (d) is acard display screen which displays a card composed of five images andthree pages of text information, (e) is an enlarged-image display screenwhich displays an image enlarged by approximately two times, and (f) isa reduced-image display screen which displays reduced images of allN--number of images by designating "SPLIT".

As many apparently widely different embodiments of the present inventioncan be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it isto be understood that the invention is not limited to the specificembodiments thereof except as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image search method which comprises the stepsof:forming one unit of image/text information composed of N--number ofimages and associated text information; forming a data base by storing anumber of items of the image/text information in a memory device;retrieving one or more items of image/text information, which satisfysearch conditions, from the data base by referring to text informationwhen the search conditions have been inputted; reducing and juxtaposingeach of the images in the items of image/text information retrieved anddisplaying the reduced and juxtaposed images that have been thusobtained on a display device; selecting a desired item of image/textinformation from the reduced and juxtaposed images; displaying only afirst image of N--number of images and first item of text information inthe selected item of image/text information on the display device;displaying N--number of page-turning indices in the proximity of adisplayed image; making the sizes of the indices larger the smaller Nbecomes; and displaying only one of the N--number of images which isselected by the page-turning index corresponding thereto with theN--number of page-turning indices.